BMW IBU Biathlon Wolrd Cup 2016 (Week 4/Day 3)) - Men's 15km Mass Start Race
10.01.2016, Ruhpolding
Mass Start to Martin Fourcade
First Podium of Season for Moravec
France’s Martin Fourcade won the men’s 15K mass start today in 34:07.2 seconds, with one penalty. Ondrej Moravec of Czech Republic, the only clean shooter in the field finished second, 13.7 seconds back. Norway’s Tarjei Boe despite three penalties finished third, 29.7 seconds back.
Fourth went to Ukraine's Dmytro Pidruchnyi, with two penalties, 31.4 seconds back. Arnd Peiffer of Germany was fifth, with one penalty, 33.3 seconds back. The winner's brother Simon finished sixth, with one penalty, 36.9 seconds back.
Motivated Fourcade
The men opened the last competition day at World Cup 4 in Ruhpolding; a warm and bit windy afternoon.
Earlier this weekend Fourcade finished fourth in the sprint, then second in the pursuit, calling his second place a "lost victory" The French star was motivated. "I was so close from the win in few competitions yesterday and in Pokljuka, and I really wanted to win today."
French Trio Leads Early
The Boe brothers started in front today; Tarjei, however, had 2 penalties in the first prone stage, falling back to 25th. The French team took over as Martin, Simon and Quentin Fillon Maillet all cleaned, leaving the stadium in the lead. Moravec was in fourth, trying to keep up. In the first standing, Fillon Maillet had two penalties and Simon one, opening the door for Emil Hegle Svendsen.
Svendsen Challenges Fourcade
Svendsen and Fourcade skied close together, approaching the final standing stage together. Svendsen's fate was decided by three penalties, throwing him out of contention.
When Fourcade established more than a 30-second gap with the rest of the field, there was no longer question about who would win. He commented, "I am happy about my shooting reaction. I decided not to shave until I have clean shooting. I think after today's victory I am going to shave."
Regarding the Yellow Bib, he added, "I have a good gap with other athletes in total ranking, but it's only World Cup 4. So many things can happen, and I can never take it as a guarantee."
Happy Moravec
Moravec, who became a father last week, looked happy, excited and relieved about his first podium of the season. "It is a relief; I feel much more comfortable now. This is the third zero-shooting competition in my life. Yesterday I was too risky at the shooting range, and today I was able to find balance."
Tough Battle for the Third
The toughest battle today was for the third spot. After the final standing stage, Simon was in third, but Tarjei closed an 8-second gap to grab third. He commented, "I missed a lot of work this season due to sickness. I will fight every race. I miss my victories, as now I have lots of third and fourth places. It always goes up and down in sport."
On making the podium with three penalties, he said, "To be honest, I am surprised. If you miss, you can only have a miss on the first or second shooting. After the last shooting I was a long way back, but managed to ski aggressively because of my fast skis and good shape."